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NASB | 1 Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God's love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love. |
Subject: The Unity of Faith, Hope and Love |
Bible Note: Emmaus, I concede to the unifying term of virtue! I remembered that a I a had a commentary (that I’ve never read) by my favorite author. He also groups them under the words virtues and gifts. To quote: “However, the study committee who wrote the report are mistaken. This is not what Paul says. He says some will remain and some will not. In 12:28, Paul lists the gifts as apostolic authority and prophecy first. Does the Synod report wish to maintain that God has appointed some to be apostles in the tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth centuries? This would be good Romanism; but Protestants think otherwise. Surely the apostleship has ceased. Hence, the time of cessation that Paul implies is not the return of Christ, but the completion of the canon. Similarly, the verse itself does not say that all the gifts are to remain. It says only that faith, hope and love remain, these three [these three is italicized], and no others are mentioned.... “It [the use of the word “now” in this verse] can hardly refer to the remainder of the apostolic age alone, for then there would be no contrast between the charismata that are passing away and the three virtues that remain....” (First Corinthians, Gordon H. Clark, p. 215) I still resist the use of the term virtue in a moral sense as in Easton above, and my computer dictionary lets me off the hook! Its third definition says, “3. A particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial quality; advantage: a plan with the virtue of being practical.” (American Heritage Dictionary) I also resisted it because I was thinking of the terms generically, and Paul is not using them generically. He’s talking about SAVING faith, the hope OF GLORY, and the love OF GOD poured out in our hearts through the HOLY SPIRIT (Eph 2:8,9; Col 1:27; Rom 5:5). So, while this technically satisfies my query, I still look for a unifying term for the generic use of these terms. |